Just A Second
by trishmahan
Summary: Sam Winchester is having a really bad day. Oh, and on top of that, Dean is mad at him.
1. Chapter 1

Just A Second

By:trishmahan

Disclaimer: They're not mine!

Today was definitely not Sam's day. He had only been awake for about two hours and already wanted to crawl back into the creaky motel bed.

The only diner in the town had run out of hot breakfast hash browns, the heater in the room had broken overnight, and his feet were cold from his shoes that had gotten wet as he had tried to dance around the puddles to get to the car this morning.

Sam didn't mean to complain, he really didn't. But he was in a crappy mood and it was just one of _those_ days.

"Hurry up!" he called to Dean who had been occupying the freaking bathroom for an hour now, probably using up all of the hot water.

Sam heard the shower slow to a stop and a few minutes later, was greeted by a billow of warm steam as Dean emerged from the small bathroom, pulling on a shirt. Sam sighed as he took in the comfort of the steam and internally pouted as it slowly dwindled away.

"Hey" Sam tried wearily. "Good morning."

Dean grunted and simply pushed past Sam as he made a beeline towards his bag that rested on the bed.

Oh yeah. And Dean was still mad at him. _Great._

Sam had to admit, yesterday's hunt hadn't really gone as planned. But it wasn't his fault he had gotten attacked by the stupid spirit damnit. A spirit that happened to throw things nonetheless. It wasn't Sam's fault that he had let his guard down for _just a second_ and the spirit had chucked a freaking fire poker at him, managing to slice him in the side.

Sam grimaced as he thought about it now. He had slid painfully to the ground like a damsel in distress and suddenly Dean had been all over him, ducking from the spirit and at the same time, trying to help Sam get out of harm's way.

 _The spirit first,_ Sam had wanted to say, but found that his mouth was stuffed with cotton balls and that there were four Deans in front of him. _Damn._ The poker must have cut him deep _._

He couldn't really remember much after that. He did start to relax when the bones had been burned and the loud noises around him had become quiet all of a sudden. But then Dean was there again, slapping his face and ordering him to stay awake.

Now that Sam thought about it, he hadn't been really hurt on a hunt in a while now. That's probably why Dean's hands were shaking as he stitched Sam up for _hours_ and his voice wavered as he murmured soothing things to him. Words that Sam couldn't even remember now.

But then Dean was yelling, and Sam remembered that clearly because it had come forth so suddenly. One minute Dean was practically crying and now he was yelling on about how Sam had been so stupid and had nearly gotten himself killed.

"I can't believe you let yourself get distracted on a freaking hunt, Sam!" Dean had all but screeched into his face.

Dean had been scared. Really scared. And as always, as the adrenaline faded away, he turned his fear into anger and blamed Sam for nearly bleeding out on him. Which was true. He shouldn't have let his guard down in the middle of a gig.

Anyway, now Sam's day majorly sucked because he was cold and tired and Dean was still mad at him. And he couldn't even take a hot shower because his stitches were still fresh. And his side hurt.

Sam sighed and turned to Dean who still had his I'm-really-pissed-at-you-for-almost-dying-and-I'm-going-to-stay-mad-at-you-for-a-while face on and was furiously trying to stuff his extra shirts into the duffel while trying not to make eye contact with Sam at the same time.

"Listen Dean, I'm really sorry about yesterd-"

"Save it Sam." Dean interrupted. "Just don't do it again."

Sam felt a burst of anger suddenly pull through. Was Dean not even going to let him explain? He hadn't meant to-

"I just can't believe you let yourself loose like that man." Dean cut in as he slammed the duffel onto the bed and turned to look at him. "Ever since we were kids, the first thing Dad taught us about hunting was to _always pay attention_ "

"I know Dean- it was just for a second."

"A second?" Dean let out a short laugh. "A freaking second can change the whole gig, Sam! Hell, you almost died because of 'just a second'"

Sam looked appalled. Anyone could have lost attention! Dean was just being unreasonable.

"You could've actually died, you could've gotten me killed, and you could've even caused the spirit to burn down the entire freaking house!" Dean ranted on.

Sam couldn't believe it. Sure, he understood that his brother had been scared, but Dean was taking this too far.

His face hardened. "You could've easily made the same mistake, Dean!"

"But I didn't. And have you realized that in the past few hunts, Sam, you've been doing the same thing that you did yesterday?"

Sam let out an exasperated sigh and plunked himself down on the nearest bed.

Dean proceeded on his tirade. "On the hunt two weeks ago, you forgot to load the gun! And then the Vamps we took on last month? You got yourself freaking captured by damn leader!"

Sam would've loved to point out all the other times that Dean had gotten himself captured, trapped, or hurt, but it didn't look like that was going to help.

"So what, I'm just not a worthy enough hunter in your eyes now?"

"NO SAM! You're missing the point." Dean yelled. "You need to get your act together so I can trust both of us to watch each other's backs instead of worrying about us getting killed every single damn time!"

Sam noticed his voice becoming rawer as both of them continued to shout at each other, hands waving and everything. His throat was sore, they were both clearly very irritated with each other, and _damnit, his side really, really hurt._

Looking down, Sam saw blood seeping through his shirt from the stitches that were now loosening up. Crap. This was _really_ not his day.

"You know what? I can't do this right now Sam. All I'm trying to do is keep my little brother safe and you just keep butting heads with me about it."

Sam closed his eyes in pain as the skin under his stitches started pulling harder.

 _I need Dean. I want Dean._

Sam's pain-filled eyes sought out his brother who was standing with his back to him, facing the door.

"Dea-"

Dean let out a long breath. "I'm gonna take a walk, Sam. Just get some water and calm down a bit" he advised calmly.

" _Dean… please."_

Sighing, Dean turned back towards his brother. "Wha-"

His gaze dropped to Sam who was now sliding off the bed clutching his side. His side that was sporting a quickly-growing crimson spot.

Dean drew in a sharp breath. "Oh god." He choked out as he scrambled towards Sam, catching him before he hit the floor.

"Sam?!"

Pulling his brother's head onto his lap, Dean's shaking hands peeled off the fabric over Sam's stitches.

The skin was swollen purple and seeping out blood. A lot of blood. _When did the gash get so deep?_

Putting pressure on the wound, Dean brought his eyes back to Sam's scrunched up face.

"Hey. Hey, hey, hey, look at me Sammy."

Sam cracked his eyes open and stared up at his big brother.

"You're gonna be okay Sammy. Just keep looking at me buddy, don't close your eyes."

Oh god, this was his entire fault. He had pushed Sam to his limits, and now Sam was even worse than he had been before. He couldn't lose Sam like this. He couldn't lose Sam _ever_.

Blinking rapidly to soothe his stinging eyes, Dean glanced at the wound again. It was bad. Bad enough that Dean wouldn't be able to patch it up on his own. With shaky breaths, Dean reached into his pockets for his phone and sobbed at the dispatcher to quickly send over help.

Sam was losing blood. Fast. And his breathing was becoming shallower. Dean cupped Sam's face with his free hand and told him that it would be alright. That big brother was right _here Sammy_. That he didn't have to worry because Dean would make sure that Sam got patched up right.

Sam only looked up with glazed eyes and whimpers, nodding every time his brother tried to console him.

He wanted to tell Dean that he would be okay, that _they_ would be okay, that this wasn't Dean's fault. But he could only stare up at his brother and try to focus on his face, trying to keep it from disappearing into the grey dots that were closing in on his vision.

All of a sudden, within a _second,_ Sam went limp in Dean's arms and stopped _breathing_. Dean shouted at him, with wide eyes, to wake up, to stay with him, and to just be okay- just as the paramedics burst into the room.

Dean looked up at them with piercing, teary eyes.

" _Fix him."_

 ** _TBC_**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - Thank you for the reviews! This is my first fic so they are very appreciated!

Dean grimaced as he shifted in the uncomfortable hospital chair next to Sam's bed. He tried to close his eyes and get some sleep but all he could see were the day's events playing out before him again.

Sam falling. Sam bleeding. Sam not breathing. Sam on a gurney. Sam being taken away from him.

 _God_. It had all happened so quickly and unexpectedly. One minute Sam was yelling at him and then suddenly his stitches had become loose? Dean couldn't even bring himself to sit down in the waiting room as a swarm of hospital staff took care of Sam in the back. He paced around the room for what seemed like forever.

Dean had been so relieved when Sam had _finally_ started to wake up eight hours later. His feet had almost let out and he was glad there was a bed between them to hold him up.

So now here they were. Sam sleeping off the rest of his pain meds and Dean trying to close his eyes for just a few minutes. It wasn't working.

Giving up on sleep, Dean turned his head towards Sam and just lay there looking.

After Dad, Sam was the only one left in Dean's life. Sure, he had been pissed at Sam but only because he had scared the hell out of him. _Didn't Sam know how much he meant to Dean?_

So maybe Sam thought he was the bad guy but he was really only trying to do his job. _Watch out for Sammy._ Even if Dad hadn't drilled that into his head, Dean was pretty sure he would have still had that crazy-protective-motherly feeling towards Sam.

Sam was his baby, had been his baby ever since Dad had put him into his arms. And the fact that Sam was now a giant grown-ass adult didn't change that.

 _They would be okay._ They had gotten into plenty of small fights and had always bounced back. Because that's what brothers did.

Dean let out a small smile as he remembered the first fight he had ever had with Sam.

 _Sam didn't want to take a bath and Dean was annoyed._

" _Sammy you have to take a bath." Dean had calmly tried to explain._

" _NO! You can't make me!" Sam pouted. "Toby said that you can go without a bath for 5 whole days before you start to rot and smell" He said holding up five chubby fingers. "So I want to play right now and I'll take a bath on Sunday."_

 _Dean rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Stupid Toby. "And I say that Toby's wrong. Who are you gonna believe?"_

 _Sam paused for a moment, trying to think of a good answer. "Well Toby said he's tried it before so it's probably true."_

 _Dean took in a deep breath. This had been going on for twenty minutes now. He had tried angry-Dad-threats, No-Ice Cream-threats, and had even offered to play with Sam and his few toys. Nothing had worked. Dad would be pissed if he came home and realized that Sam hadn't taken a bath._

 _Angry and annoyed, Dean stalked over to the nightstand and pulled out Sam's copy of Green Eggs and Ham from the drawer. "Get in the bathroom NOW or I'm going to destroy your stupid book!"_

 _Sam's eyes widened. "You can't! That's_ _ **my**_ _book, it has my_ _ **name**_ _in it!"_

 _Dean wasn't actually going to destroy the book, it was the only book that Sam had. The only book that they had found undamaged after the fire._

 _His Mom had given it to him when she was pregnant with Sam. And now it had become his little brother's favorite book. He made Dean read it to him every night._

 _But, Sam still had to take a bath._

" _I will if you don't go get into that bathtub right now" Dean demanded._

 _But then all of sudden Sam was charging at him, truly terrified that Dean would actually try to destroy his book. He tackled Dean onto the bed with all the strength he could muster and lunged for it._

 _Shocked, Dean yanked the book backwards. That's when they heard it. The strong sound of tearing paper as the thin pages ripped apart. Everything stilled and it was quiet for a few long seconds._

 _Sam looked like he was trying to hold back a giant sob._

" _YOU'RE SO STUPID" He screeched and pounded on Dean's chest with his tiny fists. "You ruined it! It was my favorite book and you bro-"_

 _Sam cut himself off as he finally let out the sobs that Dean had been dreading._

 _Dean gently reached towards his brother. "Sammy, I-"_

" _NO! You're just a big bully, Dean." Sam sniffed out. "I hate you! You're the worst. And, and I wish you weren't my brother!"_

 _Snatching the torn book from Dean's hand, Sam slid off the bed and bounded towards the bathroom where he closed himself in._

 _Dean stared at Sam with wide eyes, trying not to cry himself. Sam had never said that he hated him before and he had certainly never wished for another brother. Until now, Dean had thought that he was everything to his little brother, that he was the only one Sam wanted to play with - Sam practically worshiped him for god's sake._

 _The thought that maybe he had let Sam down, that maybe Sam didn't like or want him anymore, broke Dean's heart. He curled up under the thick blanket, tears streaming down his face. His breath came out in short pants as he realized that even if Sam didn't want him, he himself really_ _ **needed**_ _his baby brother._

 _Dean didn't know how much time had passed by. His face was feeling really numb for some reason as he just stared straight ahead from under the blankets._

 _After a while he vaguely remembered Sam coming up to him and patting his face, trying to get Dean to say something._

" _I-I'm sorry Dean" Sam hiccupped as he looked into Dean's frozen face for forgiveness. "I didn't mean it. You're the best brother I could ever have. And I love you. A lot."_

 _Dean didn't say anything. He didn't even seem to notice that Sam was there._

" _Dean?" Sam whimpered. "I'm sorry."_

 _Lifting the blanket, Sam crawled in next to Dean and pushed his wet face into his big brother's chest, curling up against him. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it. See? I even took a bath."_

 _Dean stirred and finally looked down at Sam. "I know you didn't mean it Sammy." He said with a thick voice. "I'm sorry I ripped your book."_

" _It's okay, Dean. It wasn't really your fault anyway, we can tape the pages together later…Just please don't hate me." Sam pleaded._

 _Dean smiled softly and ruffled Sam's hair. What had he done to deserve such an understanding brother? "Don't be silly, Sammy. I could never hate you."_

 _Relieved, Sam burrowed closer to his brother and they soon both drifted off to sleep. They would be okay._

Dean was brought out of his thoughts as Sam stirred awake in the hospital bed.

"Hey, how are you doing?" he asked softly, scooting his chair up towards the bed.

"Better," Sam groaned as he tried to shift in the bed. "I feel much better."

"Good Sammy, that's good." Dean turned towards the pitcher on the table next to him. "Water?"

"Yeah, thanks." Dean elevated the bed and brought a glass to Sam's mouth.

It was silent for a while as Sam shuffled around some more in his bed and Dean tried to make him comfortable.

"Listen Sam," Dean started, "About this morning-"

"It's okay Dean." Sam interrupted. "I get it. It was my fault and I'll try to be more careful next time."

Dean cleared his throat. "Yeah. Just, just don't die on me, Sam, okay? With all this crap we've gone going on, I'm trying my damn best. And I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's just that, what would I have done if-"

"Really Dean, it's okay." Sam interrupted. "I probably would have done the same thing if I were you." He admitted sheepishly. "We'll do better next time."

Dean snorted as Sam eyes grew heavier and heavier and he let out a yawn. He lowered the bed back so Sam could rest comfortably. "Get some sleep buddy, I'll see you in the morning."

Sam let out a slight smile before sleep pulled him in again. Dean bent over in his chair and rested his head on the bed as he drifted off to sleep too. _They would be okay._


End file.
